Soon after, ETFO Limestone President Mike Lumb announced an initial donation from his local of $250 for Haitian earthquate relief and challenged all other locals to make a contribution. At press time, that challenge had been answered by the Lakehead Teacher Local, the Hamilton-Wentworth Occasional Teacher Local, the Algoma Teacher Local, the Upper Canada Occasional Teacher Local, the Keewatin Patricia Teacher Local, and the Peel Teacher Local.

Members are encouraged to donate what they can to The Canadian Red Cross or Doctors Without Borders.

Last week ETFO launched a new website for its Additional Qualification courses: www.etfo-aq.ca.

This site was created, in part, to highlight ETFO’s bold new AQ plan: 20 new online AQ courses to be rolled out this summer, with a total of 50 courses to be developed over the next three years.

Soon members will have the option to take an ETFO Additional Qualification course either face-to-face, online or in a blended format (both face-to-face and online).

If you need Additional Qualifications courses that are affordable, engaging and grounded in current practice to help you strive for excellence, then we encourage you to check out www.etfo-aq.ca.

http://www.etfo.ca/PUBLICATIONS/VOICE/Pages/default.aspx

Professional learning matters. It reinforces what we know, teaches us what we strive to learn, and challenges us in unexpected ways. As instructors in the ETFO/ Drake University credit course program, we not only deliver professional learning, we take part in it ourselves. For us it’s a win-win situation. ETFO and Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa maintain a partnership that allows ETFO members to take credit courses close to where they live.

Two sessions will be provided with release time coverage (Tues. Feb 23 and Tues. Mar. 30) and the third session will take place after school on Tues. Mar. 9 from 4:30-6:30pm.

Registration is limited to 25 participants and a draw will take place from all registrations received by the due date, Feb.1st/10. Please note: to be eligible for the draw, your registration form must include a $50 cheque, payable to ETFO-Waterloo.

All sessions will be held at the ETFO-Waterloo office the registration form and an information sheet.

ETFO Waterloo members, committees, and Executive have the right to submit a resolution for consideration.

The provincial constitution is available on the provincial website at  http://www.etfo.ca for consultation and any of the local released officers can assist with wording for a proposed resolution. The first page of the attachment also provides examples of ways that motions can be written.

Resolutions that are received in the local office by January 15th, 2010 will go forward to the Winter Business Meeting (February 25th, 2010) and if passed by a majority of those present, the resolution is then submitted to the provincial organization for consideration and debate at the Annual Meeting.

Information is also available on the provincial website for applications for poll clerks and the parliamentary team for the meeting.

Amendments to the Constitution and By-Laws will be made at the Winter General Membership Meeting on Thursday, February 25, 2010.

Motions for constitutional amendments may not be made from the floor of the General Membership Meeting.

If a member would like to recommend a constitutional change, a motion with written rationale, must be in to the Local office 15 working days prior to the general membership meeting.

Motions and rationale will be available for the members to review 10 working days prior to the meeting.

Recommendations for Constitutional changes must be into the ETFO – WRTL office by 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday, February 3, 2010.

Notice to the general membership regarding the proposed changes will then be sent electronically to Reps.

A copy of the ETFO-WRTL Constitution and By-Laws is available at schools and worksites through the Fed Reps or on-line at http://etfo-wr.on.ca

General Membership Meeting
February 25, 2010

Submission to ETFO Office Deadline
February 3, 2010
If you require assistance with wording please do not hesitate to contact Judy at 519-896-7172 Ext. 225. Your submissions may be sent to Judy Perkes at the ETFO office (via the courier) or through Waterworks.

Deadline for submissions is March 31, 2009. All supporting materials must be received by this date.

The awards recognize teachers who:

• use innovative teaching methods, design creative programs, and develop exciting learning experiences for Ontario students;
• makes a difference in students’ lives by engaging them in the process of learning and create enthusiasm for learning by raising their sights, broadening their horizons and enhancing their learning potential;
• demonstrate understanding and integration of community diversity into classroom practices;
• encourage the sharing of community and individual resources in the schools of our province;
• demonstrate a personal commitment to personal lifelong learning.

• willingness to learn, and develop, as well as, to seek advice from colleagues and act upon it.

The OTF Awards Committee will review the nominations and develop a short list to be considered by the OTIP Awards Jury. The Committee uses the above criteria to assess each nomination. Be sure you address the criteria in your nomination.

For further details, go to http://www.teachingawards.ca.

Courses being offered include:

• Reading Across the Curriculum
• Purposeful Learning Through Multiple Intelligences
• Teaching Skills of the 21st Century
• Successful Teaching for Acceptance of Responsibility
• Behavioural, Academic, and Social Interventions for the Classroom
• Designing Motivation for All Learners
• Meaningful Activities to Generate Interesting Classrooms
• Discovering the Power of Live Event Learning

1. Government Looks at Public Sector Restraint Measures

Not surprisingly, shortly after reporting that the Province is facing a $24.7 billion deficit, Premier McGuinty and his finance minister, Dwight Duncan, began to muse publicly about how to respond.  On November 5, speaking to business leaders at an  economic summit organized by the Ontario Chamber of Commerce, the premier raised the spectre of unpaid days for public sector workers who, in his view, have not experienced the same effects of the recession as those in the private sector. He indicated he would be consulting with the leaders of public sector unions about what can be done to trim government spending.

On the same day during Question Period, NDP Leader Andrea Horwath suggested that the government look at cutting “tax giveaways to the corporate sector” in order to avoid hospital emergency room closures and address education underfunding.  In response to her charge that Ontario ranks behind 46 US states in per-pupil funding, Finance Minister Dwight Duncan replied:

“The states of Michigan, New York, California and Indiana are laying teachers off, firing teachers, getting rid of them, cutting public services. We made a decision not to do that, and we stand by that decision.”

The inferred message to public sector workers is that so-called “Dalton Days” should be more palatable than American-style layoffs and cuts.

While newspaper editorials have lent support to public sector restraint, a number of political scientists have referred back to the experience of the Social Contract of the former NDP administration and questioned whether the McGuinty government can afford the labour strife that such a policy would likely engender.

2. Government Criticized for Mismanaging H1N1 Immunization

On November 4, NDP Leader Andrea Horwath pointed to the Saskatchewan government’s identification of school-aged children from kindergarten to grade 6 as a priority for H1N1 vaccination. She asked why Ontario was not adopting the same approach. Health and Long-term Care Minister Deb Matthews replied:

“I am taking the advice of the chief medical officer of health. Her advice and the advice across the country is that the highest-priority groups are those who will suffer the greatest complications from H1N1 if in fact they contract the virus. We are, as I say, focusing on those priority groups. The next group of priority will be announced shortly. It will include younger school-aged children. The details of that I will leave to the chief medical officer of health.”

Meanwhile, the Saskatchewan government is rolling out plans to set up vaccination clinics in elementary schools across the province. On November 6, ETFO President Sam Hammond called on the Ontario government to adopt the same approach for Ontario students.  To read the ETFO news release, check this link: Teachers Call for H1N1 Flu Clinics in Elementary Schools.

3. Liberal Backbencher Asks about Full-day Kindergarten Implementation

On November 4, Liberal MPP Bob Delaney asked Education Minister Kathleen Wynne to respond to parents who wanted to know why full-day kindergarten wouldn’t be available for all eligible children next September.  The minister replied:

“Our goal is to have the program fully implemented in all schools by 2015-16. This timeline will ensure that the resources are not overstretched and that school boards and local governments have sufficient time to hire staff, build facilities and work with local partners, because there isn’t space in every single community to implement this.

“Next September, we’re planning to implement it in schools that already have appropriate space to accommodate additional classes, and in communities where there’s both child care need and socio-economic need. We’ve asked all school boards to recommend the communities that would be most appropriate to begin.”

In a supplementary question, Mr. Delaney asked what the government was planning to do to ensure there was stability in the child care sector since many child care operators would be affected by the loss of four- and five-year-old children. Children and Youth Services Minister Laurel Broten replied that her ministry

“will be working with municipalities, school boards and child care operators to minimize the impact on existing child care programs and to enhance the care available for children under four. We’re going to review such issues as subsidies, capital funding, and potential changes to legislation to make sure that Ontario kids from zero to four and beyond get the best-“

4. Education Ministry to Move Forward with Financial Literacy Education

On November 2, Liberal MPP Charles Sousa raised the issue of teaching students about financial literacy.  Several weeks ago he sponsored a motion in the House calling on the government to provide “a more comprehensive study of financial literacy in our elementary and secondary school curriculum.”  The motion was supported by ETFO and received unanimous support in the Legislature. Education Minister Kathleen Wynne replied:

“I’m pleased to tell him and the members of the House that we already have a partnership with the Investor Education Fund to promote financial literacy in our elementary and secondary schools. Based on that partnership, we’ll convene a working group, chaired by my parliamentary assistant, the member for Kitchener-Conestoga, in order to get the best possible advice on financial literacy. This partnership stems from the ongoing work of organizations like the Investor Education Fund and will be supported with funding from the Ontario Securities Commission under the umbrella of the Ministry of Finance. The Ontario Securities Commission is using money from business fines to help our schools promote financial literacy.”

For more information, check the website of the Ontario Legislature:  www.ontla.on.ca

The Ministry of Education has released a discussion paper on the elementary curriculum. Ever since the former Progressive Conservative government implemented the current curriculum, ETFO has been pressing the government to make revisions, particularly to the overcrowded content and number of prescribed expectations.

The Ministry is inviting responses to the consultation from students, teachers, and parents and the broader community. ETFO will be participating in the consultation process.
People are asked to read the discussion paper and then complete an online response: External link iconhttp://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=zuzR6vtvYGkbVO0Zv8N5Qw_3d_3d.

Interested members may respond as individuals or as a group. This survey will be available until November 4, 2009.

2. NDP Leader Accuses Government of Planning to Cut Public Services

On September 28, NDP Leader Andrea Horwath asked Finance Minister Dwight Duncan to explain his statement that: “We are going to have to take a hard look at everything on the expense side and make some difficult choices.”Specifically, she asked what the minister was planning to cut.

Mr. Duncan suggested that the NDP leader had “embellished” his remarks, but replied:

“The sustainability of our public services is dependent on our ability to pay for them.

“I look forward to the debates going forward that will allow us to sustain and enhance those public services, and I look forward to the contribution the member opposite will make.”

Later, in response to a supplementary, he stated:

“The challenge to all Ontarians today is to ensure a competitive economy that will yield the ability to preserve and indeed enhance our vital public services. This requires difficult trade-offs and difficult choices. You cannot have it both ways. We will be engaging in this sort of a dialogue as we move forward.”

3. PC Leader Takes Government to Task over Deficit

On September 28, PC Leader Tim Hudak took the government to task over its increasing financial deficit:

“The McGuinty Liberals initially forecasted a $600-million surplus for 2008-09. Then the Premier revised his plans and forecasted a $500-million deficit. He revised them yet again and said it would be a $3.9-billion deficit, and then we found out late Friday the actual deficit for that year: $6.4 billion. How can Ontario taxpayers trust the Premier when he missed his projections by some $7 billion?”

Finance Minister Dwight Duncan replied:

“These are challenging times. We did see a drop-off in our corporate tax revenues of almost 50%-48%-resulting from the enormous downturn in the economy, and we have laid out a plan to address the challenges in the economy to create jobs that is consistent, straightforward and will let Ontario get back to a rate of growth that will allow us to sustain the very important public services that we, on this side, want to protect: health care, education and a cleaner environment.

Pursuing the issue in a second round of questions, Mr. Hudak stated that, “just like Ontario families, the Ontario PC caucus believes that governments should live within their means.” He asked why the government has increased spending when it knew “it would leave us vulnerable in tough times.” Mr. Duncan replied: “Does that mean he and his colleagues are opposed to new hospitals? Does that mean they’re opposed to rebuilding our schools? Does that mean they’re opposed to retrofitting schools? Does that mean they’re opposed to new transit lines?”

4. MPPs Debate Bill 177, the Student Achievement and School Board Governance Act

On September 30, MPPs debated Bill 177, a bill introduced by the Minister of Education in May. It proposes to clarify the role of school boards, board chairs, trustees, and directors of education, particularly with respect to the core purpose of improving student achievement. It also proposes to require school boards to adopt a code of conduct according to provincially-set standards. Perhaps most importantly, the bill would give the government the authority to draft “public interest regulations” that would clarify the mission of school boards and allow the government to take over supervision of a school board when it deemed a board had failed to meet its responsibilities, not only with respect to fiduciary issues but also with respect to meeting student achievement goals.

NDP MPP Peter Kormos charged that the legislation, if passed, would effectively eliminate school boards:

“We think it does great damage to boards. We think it’s the beginning of the end for elected boards of education-elected trustees. It’s certainly far from the beginning of the end-a very major part of the process of the end-of local decision-making when it comes to designing education.”

On October 1, the Ontario Public School Boards’ Association issued a news release outlining its position on the bill. Although the association supported the general thrust of clarifying the various roles at the local level, it raised serious concerns with respect to the potential undermining of local democracy and the authority of school trustees. To read the release, check this link: External link iconhttp://www.opsba.org/index.php?q=news/opsba_clarifies_the_association%E2%80%99s_position_on_bill_177.

5. NDP MPP Charges EQAO Board Member with Conflict of Interest

On September 28, NDP Education Critic Rosario Marchese raised concerns about the work that EQAO board member Dr. Lorna Earl is doing with school boards with respect to student assessment. He charged that her private company “specializes in showing boards how to get their [EQAO] numbers up” and that the government was ignoring what he viewed as a conflict of interest.

Education Minister Kathleen Wynne replied that she had spoken with the chair of the EQAO and that she was assured that the EQAO does have conflict of interest provisions but “in order to be completely transparent, the chair is referring this situation to the Conflict of Interest Commissioner, and we will await a ruling on the situation.”

6. Ministry of Education Promotes Private Sector Support for School Library Books

On September 28, the Ministry of Education reported on the “success” of its private sector partnership with booksellers. Its news release stated that last January the government selected 72 Ontario-based vendors and negotiated discounts up to 50 per cent. The Ministry claims that: “To date, this has saved boards about $3 million and allowed them to purchase $175,000 more books.” The Ministry reports that 99 per cent of the initial investment went to Ontario businesses.

7. Society for Quality Education Launches New Website Profiling School Boards

The right-wing educational organization, Society for Quality Education, has launched a new website that appears to be modeled somewhat after the Ministry of Education School Information Finder website except it profiles school boards rather than individual schools.

Here is the link to the website: External link iconhttp://www.sunshineonschools.ca/default.aspx.

8. PC MPP Proposes Legislation to Require School Libraries to Block Internet Sites

On October 1, MPPs debated Bill 202, An Act to Protect our Children from Child Pornography. It is a Private Member’s Bill sponsored by PC MPP Gary Martiniuk who is pursuing the issue in response to concerns raised by a constituent, a retired police officer who worked in the child pornography unit of the RCMP. The bill proposes that all school and public libraries be required to block Internet access to sexually explicit material.

In support of his bill, Mr. Martinuik argued that “Internet filtering software is so advanced that fears of useful information being blocked are unfounded. He also stated that schools and libraries in the United States and the United Kingdom use Internet filtering hardware.

ETFO has expressed some concerns about the bill. Specifically the federation has pointed to problems related to teachers being made responsible for the implementation and monitoring of the policy and to the creation of undue restrictions on student and teacher access to Internet information and resources.

In her remarks during the debate, NDP MPP Cheri DiNovo observed that “this is not a bill that’s supported by librarians or teachers.”

For more information, check the website of the Ontario Legislature: External link iconwww.ontla.on.ca